Spring Garden Township’s post office opened in 1838
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #439 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Spring Garden Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1939 on and the census since 1940.
The Spring Garden Township post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1905. Another post office, Spring Garden (1838), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 177 in 19402020 census: 2,586188 years
How historic is Spring Garden Township?
C+
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Spring Garden Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1905.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Spring Garden Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spring Garden Township is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #439 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Spring Garden Township’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Spring Garden Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1905.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Spring Garden Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first settlement in this area was Spring Garden, about four miles southeast of Bonnie. There were several springs in the area. Early in the 19th century, Uriah Compton walled them up and built a resort called "Compton's Springs". In 1848, the village of Spring Garden was platted next to the resort. Spring Garden grew rapidly, becoming the second largest settlement in the county, even having a high school by 1888. In 1905, however, the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was built about three miles to the west. Spring Garden began a long decline as the business and population shifted to the rail depots at Bonnie and Ina. George Washington Hayes (1842–1927) donated some of the land originally making up Bonnie.
What they wrote about Spring Garden Township in 1883
Passages that mention Spring Garden Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Jefferson County, Illinois1883 · page 102Read the page →
Read the text
commenced to farm himself, and first settled on a farm in Dodds Township, but only remained there about eighteen months, and then came to Spring Garden Township, where he settled about one and a half miles from where he now lives. On that farm he resided until 1846, when he came to his present farm, a tract of 100 acres, lying in Sections 9 and 10
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Spring Garden Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1939Ina sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Spring Garden Township.
People over time
Spring Garden Township, census by census
Between 177 and 452 people in every census since 1940.
9 censuses, 1940–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Spring Garden Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Spring Garden Township
Nobody well known was born in Spring Garden Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Spring Garden Township post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1905.
How does Spring Garden Township rank for history?
Spring Garden Township is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #439 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Spring Garden Township?
7% of Spring Garden Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1979.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
